Nelson proves he favors leather ball

MAGIC 91, CLIPPERS 86

The guard scores a game-high 29 to pace the victory over the Clippers.

January 3, 2007|By Tim Povtak, Sentinel Staff Writer

Point guard Jameer Nelson made it look so easy Tuesday night.

Then he made it sound the same way.

Nelson scored a game-high and season-high 29 points, leading the Orlando Magic through a second-half blitz that left the Los Angeles Clippers struggling to find him on the court in a 91-86 victory at Amway Arena.

Nelson said Monday that he loved the NBA's decision to switch back to leather basketballs, then he backed up the talk Tuesday with his best game of the season.

He looked as comfortable running this team, leading this team, as he ever has. The ball just felt better in his hands than the synthetic model the league used the first two months of the season.

"As the leader, I'm supposed to give us what we need, and tonight with Grant Hill and Keyon Dooling out, we needed scoring,'' he said. "I looked to score.''

Nelson also handled the ball exceptionally well, knifing between defenders, driving hard to the basket and finishing plays that he started. He left Clippers point guard Shaun Livingston looking like he was standing still.

"I can beat anyone off the dribble. It doesn't matter who,'' Nelson said. "It's a matter of me making the right decision after I beat them. Tonight I made some good decisions.''

Nelson had four assists and only one turnover, considerably better than the 2-1 assist-to-turnover ratio he was averaging coming into the game. He also came in averaging just 12.8 points and 28.8 minutes.

Nelson played 34 minutes, more than usual because of the recent struggles of backup Carlos Arroyo, who played only 14 minutes, fewer than he normally does. On Tuesday, it was Nelson's show to run.

He hit a buzzer-beating jumper just before halftime -- "A momentum buster,'' he called it -- and it cut the Clippers' lead to seven.

The Magic then busted the Clippers in the third quarter, outscoring them 26-15, and taking control after a rocky first half. In that third quarter, Nelson had nine points, hitting four of his six shots.

Many of his points came on driving layups after beating Livingston and then lofting shots high over the Clippers front-court players.

"We tried to put Jameer in a lot of pick-and-roll situations, and he's a heckuva hard guy to play in those situations,'' said Magic Coach Brian Hill. "He just has that ability, and especially against a bigger guard like Livingston, we felt it would work well.''

Nelson was playing with a strained quadriceps muscle in his right leg, but it didn't seem to bother him. The leather ball had just put a smile back on his face. After struggling with his shooting in his previous two games (9-of-25 from the field), Nelson discovered the basket suddenly opened up for him Tuesday.

"He really had it going tonight,'' said forward Tony Battie. "Everything he did -- he was even good defensively -- worked well for him."